Machine for coating wafers



J. R. BRANDT MACHINE FOR COATING WAFERS Aug. 14, 1951 Filed Sept. 2, 19 48 5 Sheets-Sheet l R m 7 N E I Aug. 14, 1951 BRANDT 2,563,813

MACHINE FOR COATING WAFERS Filed Sept. 2, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN! 'EN TOR.

BY m m fw 3 Aug. 14, 1951 J. R. BRANDT MACHINE FOR COATING WAFERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 2, 1948 Aug. 14, 1951 J. R. BRANDT MACHINE FOR COATING WAFERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 2, 1948 INVENTOR.

Aug. 14, 1951 J. R. BRANDT MACHINE FOR COATING WAFERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 2, 194a kw: INVENTOR. LgY gbhnfi. Brandi, M' M, #44 14.

Patented Aug. 14, 1 9 5i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE John R. Brenna; Chi'aigo, lulgvsignor to Salerno Maichineryhcgifimany, Chic-age, 111., a orporation of Illinois 6 Claims. (01. 10 7--27) ively few re'ciproeatwns ever the stencir' mter 55' quantity of we Q'oamfie' metriey beeamesmeate'd a thick layer over t e steneu pmflgnawi detgegmined by the thicknes Of the stencil plsijl' e" erid control" mechanism":

humbe'z r times required therfei dfdririg' wqz kin'g day, necessarily reduced to a cdriidr; able exp'em the deilymachine output; Further; r n jorea an Opera'tor ,was required to hleilitih' a cb faht vigil'edjacent th hopper ehd sten qi l be); so that the condition ecoulgi be revealed he: fete it waits built up to an extreme, thus i eieae; ihg l ahjor costs and the ultimate dust of the find du U. h, It is; therefore, an objept of the, prse'ritljhyerli: '9' job 'vercqme the abqve desgribedpdisailvaii jf s' a'nc l difiidu lties eheountred' in the operatio'n'pff prio epeting machines'. n oth r objeb't of the invhtipn is to ,pr vide' ah improved hopper adapted to feeiproldatexifi sligable contacpwith a stencil plate and thrgii'gh' the-pp'en bottom of which the cbnfectiph coating r fi aiy be fed through Stencil ophings' withdlhj gmeermg' 1; spreaiding' over the surfab'e' of the ste'r'icil blete. n I v U fi igr ther object is to provide an im brofigejq h'opper and stencil plate mechanism by which the phie'tioh eb at ing may be co nfine'd' within' the ends of the open bottqm wells of the hqppe'p It rile ir'iel'idble cbntalct over the stencil plate"; still sino thelf pbject' f the ihvehtihfs fid'p'r'd vide an improved hopper mechanism" fQf ewa er dc' jait machine which is adaptedtd be held me; sihgle sbfaping, line cohtact' with a st'e'hcil plate'a'sit recig'iibcatjee therebver Anotn g runner opfieeus to: p i qvidef' a' rqk hbpfier mechanism for a wafer coagihg: 0' me which" is rbckably mpunted relative t6 th stencilsglfein and Which is ovid'dwir h sc'r' ih edge'sj at the bpttoms of its d'p'pfiisit sf 6, Wells adapted to; alternatelyehgage th'e' upp'eij shrfslce'pi the'jst en cil pl ate, thee'ntire weight of the" hdpfier being borne on alt'efh'at'e Strokes oh the respective srapihg'edges and the edl gfeis remeihin'g in intimate lin'e bearing chtiifi with" 3 Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, longitudinal, vertical sectional view taken on the line 4-5 of Fig. 3,

. looking in the direction of the arrows and illusdie or stencil plate as it slides thereover to apply a confection ocating on a wafer therebelow.

By reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings, it will be seen that the wafer coating machine to which the hopper and hopper control mechanism of the present invention has been applied comprises generally a supporting frame structure having vertical, longitudinally extending plates l and a plurality of cross pieces or braces, some of which will be referred to specifically hereinafter. As will hereinafter be described in detail, the various operating shafts of the machine are supported between these side plates IQ. At the top of the frame structure there is supported an intermittently movable conveyor belt H which extends from the front or feed end of the machine (from the left end as viewed in Fig. 1) to the rear or delivery end thereof (the right end thereof) The wafers are fed onto the moving conveyor belt ill by a feeding mechanism, indicated generally by the numeral 12, and. they then pass under the improved hopper and stencil mechanism, indicated generally by the numeral l3, where they are coated with an icing or similar confection material. The belt [I is stationary during the stenciling operation.

. After receiving the confection coating, the wafers then pass under a second wafer feeding mechanism, indicated generally by the numeral :4, from which top wafers are positioned down onto the coating. Thus there are formed composite cookies of the sandwich type comprising top and bottom wafers with the confection material therebetweenv The completed sandwich cookies thereafter pass on off the machine to a loading area in which they are removed from the conveyor and placed in containers.

The belt II, as shown best in Fig. 1, is endless in construction, and at its left end it extends around and is supported by a drum It and at its right end it extends around a smaller drum or roller (not shown). Intermittent movement of the drum I6 is effected by means of a ratchet wheel ll loosely mounted on a cross rock shaft l8 and secured to the drum 16, the drum It also being supported on the shaft 18 for rotative movement relative thereto. The ratchet wheel I! is engaged by a pawl 19 pivoted to the upper end of a short arm 20 fixed to the cross shaft 18 and extending upwardly at a forty-five degree angle therefrom. Depending from and fixed to the cross shaft I8 is another short arm 2|, the lower end of which is pivotally connected to the upper end of a pitman rod 22. The rod 22 is eccentrically mounted on a continuously rotating shaft 23 so that through the rod 22 and the arm 2!, the arm 20 is rocked from left to right causing the pawl 19 to intermittently rotate the drum l6 and advance the belt I l to the right in a stepby step movement.

As shown clearly in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the shaft 23, which is the main driving shaft of the machine from which movements of the various mechanism to be described hereinafter are effected, extends transversely of the machine, and

. 4, it is supported at its ends in bearings secured in the side plates 10 and is supported intermediate its ends by an upstanding column 24 secured on a cross bar 23 of the frame. Rotation of the shaft 23 is effected by a sprocket 2'! keyed thereon and engaged by an endless chain 28. The chain 28 extends to the right to the rear of the machine and is-operably connected through suitable driving connections to a source of power such as an electric motor (not shown).

The cookie feeding mechanism I2 is also operated off the shaft 23 as seen best in Fig. 1. A horizontal rod 29 has its right end eccentrically secured to the shaft 23 and its forward end adjustably and pivotally connected by a pin and slot connection to the lower end of a rocking lever 30. The lever 39 is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on a short cross shaft 31 supported in the machine frame and its upper end is pivoted to the rear end of a short link 32 secured to the rear end of a reciprocable slide 33. Above the slide 33 there is supported a wafer magazine 34 comprising a plurality of vertical chutes adapted to receive a plurality of pre-baked wafers in stacked relation which feed downwardly by gravity onto a table 36 over which the slide 33 reciprocates. The magazine 34 is spaced above the table 35 a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the wafer to permit one wafer at a time to drop below each of the chutes. The slide 33 is slightly less in thickness than the thickness of the wafer and its right or rearward edge is adapted to engage the plurality of wafers and to push them off the table 36 onto the belt ll. When the slide 33 is retracted to the left, another group of wafers drop down onto the table 36 and'they in turn are also forced onto the belt asthe slide is again moved to the right.

As the belt ll thereafter moves intermittently to the right, the wafers are moved under a ;flat, horizontal stencil plate 31 (Figs. 2, 4 and 6) having a plurality of transversely aligned openings 33 therethrough and upstanding marginal walls 39, the plate 3? and the walls 39 comprising a stencil box. The stencil box is supported in fixed position in spaced relation from and over the belt H on pairs of spaced arms 9!] projectinginwardly from pairs of spaced posts secured on the top of each side of the machine frame. An elongated hopper 4| is slidably supported on the stencil plate 37 for reciprocal,-

reciprocates it moves from one side of the stencil box to they other passing over.

the openings 33 on each stroke, the openings conforming to the shape of the wafer. but being slightly less than the diameter, thereof. When the hopper 4| passes over the openings 38 a quantity of the coating material .is forced down within the opening 36 and onto the top surface of the wafer, which is held in raised position up against the under surface of the stencil plate 31 by a mechanism to be described presently.

' As shown ,inFig. 6,-thethickness vof-the stencil 5. plate 31 determines the thickness of the coating 44 applied to the wafer 45.

The hopper 4| is rockably supported on and relatively to the stencil plate 31, in a manner to be described presently, in order that only one of the side walls 42 thereof will contact the stencil plate 31 during sliding, scraping movement and the other side wall will be slightly raised therefrom. By such a construction the bearing engagement of the hopper 4| will be restricted to a knife edge or line contact and the full combined weight of the hopper 4| and the coating material therein will be applied to the stencil plate. 31 only alongthat single line of contact. This 'means that'only a single lower edge of the hopper 4| will remain in intimate line contact with the stencil plate '31 during sliding movement and the confection material does not have sufiicient' body to hold the hopper out of such contact. Consequently, as the hopper 4| slides over the plate, it scrapes clean the upper surface and prevents the coating material from working its way out over the stencil plate surfaceand from forming large masses at the ends of the hopper strokes. The rocking movement of the hopper 4| occurs at the end of each stroke so that the hopper slides first in one direction on one line edge of-the bottom of one side wall 42 and then in the other direction on the line edge of the bottom of the opposite side wall 42.

Themechanism for causing reciprocal sliding and rocking movement of the hopper 4|, as shown in Figs-2 to 6 of the drawings, comprises a pair of horizontally disposed bars or slides 41 slidably supported adjacent each end wall 43 of the hopper in channels of horizontal guides 45 secured to the supporting arms 90. The slides 41 are held down within the guide channels by retaining plates 48 secured to the top surfaces of the guides 45. Secured on the upper surface of each of the slides 41 are a pair of spaced blocks 49, the space between these blocks being suffi- 'cient to admit a circular bar 56 projecting outwardly from each of the vertical end walls 43 of the hopper 4| below the center line thereof. By engagement of the projecting bars 50 of the hopper with the blocks 49 of the slides 41, sliding movement of the hopper 4| is effected across the stencil plate.

Sliding movement of the slides 41 is achieved by a mechanism now to be described. As shown in Fig. 2, the slides 41 at their right ends and at each side of the machine are pivotally engaged with upstanding short links and also with horizontally extending short links 52, the right end of these links 52 being pivotally secured by pins 522) to the upper end of long rocker armsl53 pivoted at their lower ends to the frame structure on a cross shaft 54 for-rocking movement. The links 5| are pivoted intermediate their ends on pins 5|a projecting outwardly from upstanding, stationary lugs 41a on the right end of the slide 41 at each side thereof, while the upper ends of links 5| are pivotally connected to the lower ends of links by pins 10:; and the lower ends of links 5| are pivotally connected to the left ends of the links 52 by pins 52d. Thus, when the rocker arms 53 are rocked either to the right or to the left, the links 5| will turn about the center pivot pins 5|a to effect movement of the links in one direction or the other as will be explained more fully hereinafter. At the same time, movement of the rocker arms 53 will also move the entire slides '41'inonedirection or the other, the driving force being transmitted from therocker arms 53 through the pins 52b, the links 52, the pins 52a, the links 5| and the pins 5|a to the slide lugs 41a. The rocker arms 53 intermediate their ends are connected by a cross bar 56 which is received within a slot 51 in the right end of a link 58. The link 58 at its left end is pivotally connected with the right end of a pair of curved spanning links 59, the left end of the links 59 being pivotally connected to the upper ends of a pair of curved hopper cam levers Bil. The right ends of the spanning links 59 are also pivotally connected to the upper ends of a pair of curved hopper cam levers 5| and each of the lower ends of the pairs of cam levers 60 and 6| is pivoted to a longitudinally extending brace 62 of the frame structure.

- At the pivotal connection between the spanning links 59and the cam levers 60 there is secured a roller or cam follower 63 and at the connection between the spanning links 59 and the cam lever 5| there is also secured another cam follower 64, these cam followers 63 and 64 being adapted to cooperate with a large cam 66 keyed to a rotatable shaft 61. The shaft 61 is driven by a large gear 58 keyed thereon which is in mesh at all times with a smaller gear 69 keyed to the main driving shaft 23. A sliding clutch member 55 is slidably mounted on the shaft 23 and is secured to the end of shaft 15 to which is secured a clutch lever 15a.

Thus, as the cam 65 is rotated by the shaft 31 the spanning links 59 will be forced to the left'or to the right depending upon the position of the cam 66. This causes the link 58 also to move to the left or to the right so as to rock the elongated vertical levers 53 about their ,pivot 54. As the levers 53 are so rocked, the slides 41 are caused to reciprocate by means of the connecting links 52, the hopper 4| thus being reci-procated back and forth over the stencil plate 31.

As seen best in Fig. 2, the upper end of the short links 5| which project upwardly from the right ends of the slides 4? are pivotally secured at each side of the hopper 4| to angular, forwardly extending links 15, the forward ends of which are pivotally connected to pins 1| (Fig. 3) projecting outwardly from the end walls 43 of the hopper 4| adjacent the upper edge and on the center line thereof. By this construction rocking as well as sliding movement of the hopper is effected. As the blocks 49 push against the hopper bars 53 below the center line of the hopper 4|, a force is simultaneously exerted against the upper portion of the hopper 4| in the opposite direction by the links ill and 10 thus causing the hopper to tilt in the proper direction determined bywhich end of the stencil plate the hopper happens to be.

This'inovement of the hop-per M is clearly illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6 of the drawings. In Fig. 6, the hopper 4| is illustrated in the course of its movement from right to left with the lower edge of the right side wall 42 of the hopper being in line contact with the upper surface of the stencil plate 31 and with the lower edge of the left side wall 42 of the hopper 4| being in raised position. In Fig. 4 the hopper is shown as it ape pears at each end of its strokes but before it has been rocked for the return stroke. The hop-.1 per shown in full lines at the right still has the lower edge of its left side wall 42 in engagement with the upper surface of the stencil plate 31, this line contact having existed all the time the hopper was moving from the left position to the right position. However, as the slides 41 begin their movement to the left under the driving mechanism-above described, the right hand block 49 will exert a pushing force against the hopper pin litl below the center line of the hopper and at the same time the lever I will cause a pulling force to be exerted against the pin H of the hopper above the center line in the opposite direction thus causing the hopper to tilt relative to the upper surface of the stencil plate 31 so that the lower edge of the right side wall 42 will now be moved downwardly into scraping, line contact with the stencil plate 31 and the lower edge of the left side wall 42 raised therefrom.

. Similarly when the hopper reaches the left hand position as shown inFig. 4 and the slide begins its movement to the right, the left hand block 49 will exert a pulling force on the hopper pin 50 in the opposite direction and the arm will exert a pushing force on the upper end of the hopper thereby causing tilting thereof in the opposite direction.

By means of this scraping or squeegeeing action of the trailing edge of the hopper, in line contact with the stencil plate 31, the coating material within the hopper is confined between the flared bottoms of the side walls 42 during sliding movement thereof across the stencil plate 31 and also during the time when ,the hopper is rocked at the ends of its strokes. Because of the line contact between the trailing edge of the hopper and the stencil plate 31 none of the coating material is left behind on the stencil plate during sliding movement but is always forced ahead of the trailing'edge. It is to be noted that because the advance edge of the hopper is raised from the stencil plate there is a space through which the coating material might pass were it not for the fact that the movement of the hopper is sufficiently rapid and the coating material is sufficiently plastic to prevent such leakage. The advance raised edge always remains ahead of the coating material which is forced down by a mechanism to be later described against the upper surface of the stencil plate 31 immediatel inwardly of the advance edge. Thus when the hopper 4! is rocked and the other edge moves downwardly into contact with the stencil plate 31, no

coating material is interposed therebetween. The

engagement, therefore, between the hopper edges and the stencil plate is in most instances a clean line contact. However, in the event the viscosity of the COatiIlg material is of a lower degree so that it is somewhat more flowable to permit slight leakage ahead of the raised side wall of the hopper during sliding movement, nevertheless because of the line contact the edge of the hopper upon rockin movement will cut down through such coating material into intimate engagement with the stencil plate and wipe the plate clean on its return movement. It is thus apparent that by this novel form of hopper and hopper control mechanism the stencil box is kept relatively free of coating material and no large masses thereof are permitted to form at each end of the hopper stroke. Consequently, most or all of the coating material is forced down through the stencil openings 38 onto the wafers therebelow and the services of an operator in seeing that the stencil box is kept clean are dispensed with. In order to raise the wafers 46 up against the under surface of the stencil plate 31 there is providedia channel-shaped member I2 which extends transversely of the machine beneath the members 16 at each side of the machine.

belt H, the upper edges of the channel member 12 being adapted to engage th under surface of the belt II at points spaced from either side of the'wafer so as not to damage the same. The channel-shaped member 12, as shown particularly in Fig. 3 of the drawings, is secured at each of its ends to the upper ends of reciprocal lifting rods 13 which are slidably received through a vertical opening 14 in inwardly projecting frame The lower ends of the lift rods 13 are bifurcated to receive a cam roller H which is in constant engagement with a small cam 18 keyed to the rotating shaft 61. The cam surface of the cam 18 is of such configuration that the lift rods 13 are caused to be moved up and down at the proper intervals so that the wafers 46 Willbe raised into position under the stencil plate 37 prior to the time the hopper 4| slides over the stencil plate to deposit a coating 44 simultaneously on each of the wafers.

After the coating 54 has been applied to the upper surfaces of the wafers, the coated wafers tend to adhere to the under surface of the stencil plate 31 due to the tackiness of the coating material. Provision is therefore made for releasing the coated wafers so they may be restored to position on the belt I! as it is lowered for further intermittent movement. This releasing or stripping means comprises two sets of stripping or punch-out fingers 79 arranged in aligned groups on each side of the hopper 4i and adapted to be projected downwardly through the hopper openings 38 so as to push the coated Wafers down away from the stencil plate 37. The sets of stripping fingers lB are alternately operable after the hopper ll has passed over the stencil plate open ings 38 and is approaching the end of its stroke.

Each of the sets of stripping fingers T9 depend from a transversely extending bar Bil having upwardly turned ends Bl at each side thereof secured to vertically slidalole blocks 82 at each side of the hopper. The transversely opposed blocks 82 at each side of the machine are secured together by cross bars or braces 83 so as to operate in their vertical movements as a unit. Each of the blocks 82 is provided with a central opening through which extend vertically directed rods 84 secured to the upper surface of the slides 41. Projecting outwardly from each of the blocks 82 on each side of the machine is a roller 86 which is adapted to engage the upper surfaces of two inclined tracks 81 and 83 on each side of the machine secured on the guide members 45.

v, The stripper bars 89 are, therefore, adapted .to be raised and lowered at appropriate times as the hopper moves from one side of the stencil plate to the other. Referring to Figs. 2 and '4 of the drawing, it will be seen that when the hopper 41 is in its right hand position on the stencil plate 37, the right hand stripper mechanism and its roller 86 is adjacent the upper right end of the trackway 88. As the hopper 4| moves to the left, the stripping machinsm is alsocar ried to the left on the slides 41, the rolle 86 rolling down the inclined track 88 to the lower end thereof. When this point is reached, the hopper has entirely passed over the stencil plate openings 38 and the coated waferis ready to be released. Thus at this point the stripping 'fin-i gers 19 are permitted to drop down through the stencil plate openings 38with a sharp sudden movement so as to punch out the adhering wafers without separating the coating therefrom. This sudden dropping movement of the stripping fin- -9 gers T9 is caused by the sudden dropping off of the rollers lllifrom the trackway 88, the trackways 81 and 88 being spaced apart at their lower adjacent edges to permit the roller 86 to drop downwardly therebetween.

Similarly, when the hopper 4! is in its left hand position as shown in Fig. l b the broken lines, the stripper mechanism on the left side thereof is at the upper end 'of the inclined trackway '81, and as the hopper ll is moved to the right, the stripping mechanism is gradually lowered until the roller 86 thereof suddenly drops ofi the lower end of the trackway 87, the coated waters which were coated on the movement of the hopper from left to "right thus being punched downwardly in similar manner.

Before the hopper 4'! may commence its return stroke,it is necessary to elevate the stripping mechanism and thestripp'ing fingers 79 from the stencil plate openings 38 and this is accomplis'hed by vertical lift rods 89 on each side of the machine which are adaptedto engage the rollers 8B of each of the stripping mechanisms. The lift rods "89, as shown in Figs. '2 and 3 of the drawings, are slidably received within the inwardly projecting frame members 16 and 90, the lower end of'the lift rods 89 being'bi-furcated to support cam rollers 9!. The cam rollers 9| are adapted to "constantly engage a cam 92 also keyed on the rotating shaft 61. The configuration of the cam 92i-s such that 'the'liftrods 89 are elevated into engagement with the rollers 86 so as to lift the rollers above thelower edges of either the trackways 8'! or 88 just before the hopper 4| commences its 'r'eturn movement; 'The lift rods 88 serve to elevateat'the proper times both the right and'leit stripper mechanisms.

'In order'that the coating material may be under constant feeding-pressure within the hopper 4 I as thehopper'slides over the stencil plate open.

lugs 38, there is'prov'ideda verticall reciprocable feeding member 93, shown particularlyin Figs. 2, 3 and of the drawings. "Th'is pressure'member comprises an enlarged cylindrical bar 94 extending horizontally within the hopper between the sidewalls 43 thereof for movement downwardly from approximately the center line of the hopper. "This enlarged pressure bar 94 is supported by spa'ced'vertical bars 96 whose upper ends are in-turn secured to .a horizontal cross bar 9], the respective ends ofwh'i'ch project beyond the end walls 43 of the hopper. These projecting ends of the cross bar SI are provided with depending arms 98 and the lower ends of these depending arms are provided with oppositely directed slide bars 99 so as to form aninverted sloping T. The slide bars 99 are adaptedto alternately engage the upper surfaces of the tracks 81 and 8B and theyare of sufficient length to bridge the gap betweenthe tracks 81 and 88. Slide bars 99 are angularly disposed withresp'ect to the depending arms 58 so as to he in planes parallel :to the tracks 81 and 88, respectively, thusfacilitating sliding movement. H

The vertical bars 96 of the pressure member 93 adjacent the end walls 43 of the hopper are slidably received in vertical channels 85 (Figs. 3 and *5) out in the inner surface of the end walls 43 of the hopper so that the vertical movement of the pressure member 93 is guided thereby. Thus when the hopper is moved from one end of the stencil plate 3! toward the openings 38, the pressure bar 94 moves downwardly within the hopper exerting a pressure on the coating mate rial below it, this lowering of the pressure bar 94 being permitted as the slide bars '99 slide down wardly on one of the inclined tracks 8! or 88, and the point of greatest pressure being directly over the center of the openings 38 in the stencil plate 31. As the hopper continues on toward the end of its stroke, the pressure bar is then raised as the bar 99 slides upthe opposite track.

After the wafers 46 have been coated and released from the stencil plate 31 by the stripping mechanism, they continue intermittently onward ly on the belt I I until they pass under another wafer magazine I 00 also comprising a plurality of vertical chutes. These chutes are also filled with wafers which are fed onto the coating material 44 of the previously coated wafers by means of a slide IEH operably connected with the motor .in a manner similar to first feeding mechanism l2, thereby forming a sandwich cookie.

Although there has been described above and illustrated in the drawing a preferred embodiment of a hopper and hopper control mechanism for a wafer coating machine, it is to be under stood that changes and modifications may be made in the structural details and mode of operation thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for coating cakes having a stencil plate with an opening therein and means for supporting a cakeadjaoent said opening, the

combination of .a hopper having opposed side walls and a bottom opening between said side walls and being adap'ted'for reciprocal sliding movement across said stencil plate in engagement therewith and for tilting movement relative thereto, supporting mechanism "for rockably and slidably supporting said banner with its bottom opening and the .lower ends of the side walls adjacent said stencil plate for tilting movement and sliding movement relative to said plate, the lower edge of only one side wall being adapted to be in scraping contact with said plate when the hopper is tilted in one direction and moved across said plate and the lower edge of only the other side wall being adapted to be in scraping contact with said plate when the hopper .is tilted in the opposite direction and moved in the return direction across, the plate, rocking means operably connected with said hopper for tilting (the hopper in alternate directions, and actuating means for .slidingly reciprocating said hopper .in tilted position across said plate. '2. In a machine .for coating cakes having a stencil plate with an opening therein and means for supporting a cake adjacent said opening, the combination of a hopper having opposed side walls and a bottom opening between said side.

walls and being adapted for reciprocal sliding movement across said'stencil plate in engagement therewith and for tilting movement relative thereto, supporting mechanism for rockably and slidably supporting said hopper with its bottom opening and the lower ends of the side walls adjacent said stencil plate for tilting movement and sliding movement relative to said plate, the lower edge ofonly one side wall being adapted to be in scraping contact with said plate when the hopper'is tilted in one direction and moved across said plate and the lower edge or only the other side wall being adapted to be in scraping contact with said plate when the hopper is tilted in the opposite direction and moved in the return direction across the plate, and hopper tilting and sliding means for tilting the hopper in alternate directions at the ends of its respective strokes 11 and. for reciprocating saidrhopper in tilted position across said stencil plate.

3. In a machine for coating cakes having a stencil plate with an opening therein and means for supporting a cake adjacent said opening, the combination of a hopper having opposed side walls and a bottom opening between said side walls and being adapted for reciprocal sliding movement across said stencil plate in engagement therewith and for tilting movement relative thereto, supporting mechanism for rockably and slidably supporting said hopper with its bottom opening and the lower ends of the side walls adjacent said stencil plate for tilting movement and sliding movement relative to said plate, the lower edge of only one side wall being adapted to be in scraping contact with said plate when the hopper is tilted in one direction and moved across said plate and the lower edge of only the other side wall being adapted to be in scraping contact with said plate when the hopper is tilted in the opposite direction and moved in thereturn direction across the plate, and hopper tilting and sliding means for tilting the hopper in alternate directions atthe ends of its respective strokes and for reciprocating said hopper in tilted position across said stencil plate, said means comprising a member engaging said hopper at the lower portion thereof and exerting a force thereagainst in the direction of movement of said hopper and a member engaging the hopper at its upper portion and adapted to effect tilting movement thereof in the opposite direction.

4. In a machine for coating cakes having a stencil plate with an opening therein and means for supporting a cake adjacent said opening, the combination of a hopper having opposed side walls and a bottom opening between said side walls and being adapted for reciprocal sliding movement across said stencil plate in engagement therewith and for tilting movement relative thereto, supporting mechanism for rockably and slidably supporting said hopper with its bottom opening and the lower ends of the side walls adjacent said stencil plate for tilting movement and sliding movement relative to said plate, the

lower edge of only one side wall being adapted to be in scraping contact with said plate when the hopper is tilted in one direction and moved across said plate and the lower edge of only the other side wall being adapted to be in scraping contact with said plate when the hopper is tilted in the opposite direction and moved in the return direction across the plate, actuating means mounted adjacent each end of the hopper at the lower portion thereof for reciprocal movement relative to the stencil plateand for effecting reciprocal movement of the hopper and including a pair of spaced members, a stud projecting from the lower portion of each end of the hopper into engagement with and between said members, and tilting means also carried by the actuating means and comprising an arm pivotally engaging the hopper at the upper portion thereof for tilting the hopper in direction opposite to that of its bodily movement.

5. In a machine for coating cakes having a stencil plate with an opening therein and means for supporting a cake adjacent said opening, e,

combination of a hopper having opposed side walls and a bottom opening between said side walls being adapted for reciprocal sliding movement across the plate in engagement therewith and for rocking movement relative thereto, reciprocable supporting mechanism for rockably and slidably supporting said hopper with its bottom opening and lower edges of the side walls adjacent said stencil plate for rocking movement and sliding movement relative to said plate and including reciprocable actuating means mounted for reciprocal movement relative to said stencil plate and interconnecting means between the actuating means and the hopper for rockably supporting said hopper on the actuating means and for effecting sliding movement of the hopper upon movement of the actuating means, and rocking means operably engaged with the hopper for rockingthe same in alternate directions on said actuating means, the lower edge of only one side wall being adapted to be in scraping contact with said plate when the hopper is tilted in one direction and moved across said plate and the lower edge of only the other side wall being adapted to be in scraping contact with the plate when the hopper is tilted in the opposite direction and moved in the return direction across the plate.

6. In a machine for coating cakes having a stencil plate with an opening therein and means for supporting a cake adjacent said opening, the combination of a hopper having opposed side Walls and a bottom opening between said side walls and being adapted for reciprocal sliding movement across the stencil plate in engagement therewith and for tilting movement relative thereto, slidable supporting mechanism for rockably and slidably supporting said hopper with its bottom opening and lower ends of the side walls adjacent said stencil plate for tilting and sliding movement relative to the stencil plate, and interconnecting means between the slide means and the hopper below the center of gravity of the hopper for tiltably supporting said hopper on the slide means and for efiecting sliding movement of the hopper upon movement of the slide means,

actuating mechanism for efiecting reciprocal movement of the slide means, and rocking means operably engaged with the upper portion of the hopper above the center of gravity for tilting the hopper in alternate directions, the lower edge of only one sidewall being adapted to bein scraping contact with said plate when the hopper is tilted in one'direction and moved across saidplate andthe lower edge of only the other side wall being adapted to be in scraping contact with the plate REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,570,405 Salerno Jan. 19, 1926 

